Saturday Sweets - Mini Cranberry Panettones - Recipe #57

Driving down to Shilshole last week for lunch with friends, I laughed at my incoming text, ¨:) your buns were amazing.¨ The buns in question? Mini Cranberry Panettones from the December 2004 issue of Cooking Light. One of my favorite holiday treats of a few years back, though now it's been ages since I've purchased any, was panettone from Trader Joe's. These were even better.

While they take plenty of time - three hours of rising and about 20 minutes of baking - they are well worth it as a weekend brunch treat to share with friends (or gobble down on your own). The recipe calls for a jumbo (1 cup) muffin tin, though I substituted normal size and made 12 instead of 6, figuring that my muffin tins held about 1/2 c. per muffin. After they finished baking, I looked back at the original recipe and saw that it claims you can make the recipe in traditional muffin tins for a yield of 18 by trimming the parchment paper to 2 1/2 x 6 inches, and shortening the baking time (as I did) to 20 minutes.

Mini Cranberry Panettones

• 2 packages dry yeast (about 4 1/2 t.)
• 1 1/4 c. warm water (100-110 degrees)
• 5 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, divided
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 7 T. butter
• 1 T. finely chopped fresh orange rind
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 c. sweetened dried cranberries
• 1/4 c. finely chopped crystallized ginger
• cooking spray
• 2 T. sliced almonds

Dissolve yeast in water in a large bowl; let stand 5 min. Lightly spoon 1 1/4 c. flour into dry measuring cups, level with a knife. Add to yeast mixture, stirring with a whisk to combine. Cover; let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour.

Combine sugar, butter, rind, and salt in a large bowl; beat with a heavy-duty stand mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add eggs, beating until combined; beat in yeast mixture. Lightly spoon 4 c. flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 4 c. flour to egg mixture, beating at medium speed until smooth. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 3 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 T. at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel sticky - I did not end up needing all of the remaining flour). Knead in cranberries and ginger until well incorporated.

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Coat 6 (1-cup) muffin cups with cooking spray. Cut 6 (5 x 12-inch) strips of parchment paper; place paper in muffin cups to extend 3 inches from the top of the muffin cups. Divide dough evenly among the muffin cups. Lightly spray each muffin with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with nuts. Let rise in a warm place 1 hour or until doubled in size.

While muffins rise, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake muffins at 375 for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.